


Maybe

by AnHeiressofaSOLDIER



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: A mostly friendship and testing the waters type piece., F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2018-02-26 07:26:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2643281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER/pseuds/AnHeiressofaSOLDIER
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agreeing to dress up in an animal motif for Estelle, and then feeling ridiculous and uncertain about things because of it, leads to a heartfelt moment and an understanding between Rita and Flynn: something that not even the genius mage could have foreseen beforehand. A Rita/Flynn humor, friendship, and fluff piece.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Maybe

To say that Rita was angry would have been an understatement. As it was, the genius mage-though having grown to like Repede, at least-wasn't really a fan of dogs in the slightest. Blame it on the Blastias going crazy some years ago and turning the animals into vicious monsters, she thought ruefully.

But as it stood, nothing made the grumpy girl even grumpier than having to deal with stupidity, things pertaining to animals, and people treating Estelle badly, and somehow... Rita now found herself being swamped by all three.

See, on one of her annual visits to the palace-to visit her favorite candidate for the throne-someone had brought up to Estellise that they thought the answer to find a new power source other than Blastia, rested in the hands... err, the paws of mammals.

The moron had even then gone on to say that maybe if they were clever enough to fool the animals into thinking they were like them, then the creatures might could find it in them to show the people their ways, which... Rita saw as complete bologna, foolishness, and probably a lot of other choice words she could have said.

But Estelle being Estelle had bought the whole thing, and as much as Rita tried to fight it, she could hardly say no to the princess' whims. So when someone had suggested that  _Rita_ should be the one to investigate this phenomenon, seeing as how she'd dedicated her life to studying Blastia and Aer before, she'd found that as much as she'd wanted to, she hadn't been able to say no.

So here she was, back at that stupid coliseum from her first journey with Brave Vesperia-where they had had bad luck after bad luck-trying desperately to warm herself into the hearts of a plethora of ignorant animals, but to no avail.

Honestly, Rita probably would have given up the entire endeavor a long time ago, if it weren't for Estelle being so enthusiastically in the bleachers-breathing in and enjoying the outdoors she rarely got to experience anymore. The only thing out of place with it all in Rita's mind, was the absence of Yuri from the girl's side.

Aaaaaand now she had the sinking suspicion that it was Yuri that was behind all of this, Rita thought bitterly.

"That's it!" Rita exclaimed at once-throwing the stupid doggy ears she was wearing onto the ground unceremoniously, as she resisted the urge to punch something. "I'm sorry, Estelle, but I am  _done_  with this! This sort of attire is more something that Judith would wear, anyway. Why don't you bring her into the coliseum to be the guinea pig?"

At having said that, Rita half-expected the Krityan to suddenly show up unexpectedly, as she often did, and to whisper some poignant words into her ear. But as Judith seemed to be busy with Brave Vesperia-and especially with Yuri, Karol, and Repede lately-no such thing came to pass.

What did end up happening at that moment, though, was Flynn's decision to show up onto the field. The sixth sense she'd developed somewhere during her last adventure prickled and sent chills running up and down Rita's spine, as she whirled around and turned to look at the blond incredulously.

If he wanted to creep her out by inciting a strong bout of déjà vu within her, he was certainly succeeding, Rita thought angrily, upon crossing her arms.

Though the knight had thankfully given up on trying to take Estelle back home when she just wanted to go out and have some fun at times, Rita didn't doubt that his presence still probably put the princess on edge at times, and that was something she couldn't forgive.

"What are you doing here, Flynn?" Rita demanded-resisting the urge to go into a battle stance, as she turned to chance a glance at Estelle, whose eyes had narrowed behind her round glasses, in the same moment that her pink eyebrows had shot up into her hairline.

"Well, to put it simply, mildly," Flynn started uncomfortably, crossing his arms and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Some locals here noted some rabbits going missing and heading towards the Coliseum, so they sent me to check it out. I think they were worried about a repeat of the First Strike happening, so here I am."

 _What a dutiful and hard working man you are, to be chasing after bunnies like this_ , Rita almost called out sarcastically, but bit her tongue against saying it at the last possible moment. She didn't have much room to talk herself, after all, seeing as how she looked just as pathetic as he did.

Sure Flynn was chasing hares, and being  _oh so_ manly about it that Rita couldn't even  _imagine_ how anyone would think Yuri a better fighter than him, but she was the one in a canine suit trying to discreetly reason with the rabbits that had now flocked to her. That was  _such_  a wonderful site for people to behold for someone of her caliber right there.

And even Estelle, who was Lighty McLight-Light sitting up above them, was tittering the slightest bit at the situation now, and if that didn't tell Rita how ridiculous the entire thing was, she didn't know what would. Suddenly, she felt set up.

"Huh. That's great, Flynn," Rita replied to her comrade with a fake yawn, as she began heading back towards the entrance she'd first come to the stadium from, and prepared to leave the bunnies and the dogs to their soon-to-be-rescuer. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to head out of here now and let you do your job, since I'm really tired."

And Rita did just that-lithely and calmly walking out the gated exit, with her hands dangling over her would-be-pockets, and trying her best to not be irritated at her best friend.

It was a hard thing to stay true to, though, when Rita began walking through the navy, domed tunnel that would take her back into the city, and noticed all the people milling about outside.

Ugh. And here Rita had thought Estelle would have at least had the decency to rent the place out, so that no one could see her shame, but apparently that had just been too much to ask for. Was she trying to embarrass her or something?! Rita pondered with a snarl, as she began ripping at her stupid costume so that she could go out into the open with the clothes she had on under it.

Yeah: she would just take the hideous monstrosity off, go to the nearest bathroom and dump it there, and walk into town in the red mage clothes that she'd worn in this place a few years ago. Simple. She had everything sorted out...

Until she felt someone grabbing onto her hand, and turning her around to face them.

Now, Rita had faced some truly terrible and trying things before, so she should have been able to remain level-headed, to beat her assailant into next week, and to call it a day. But unfortunately for Rita, the whole cosplay thing had left her feeling self-conscious and weird, so all she could think to do was maybe scream and use the garb that she was still holding onto as a weapon of some sort against this monster.

For whatever reason, Rita didn't do the first thing-Estelle had always been more of a yelper than her, after all, but the mage  _did_ throw the gray material into the air to cover the stranger's face. It was only when Rita was traipsing down the blue stairs there, and heading to the receptionist for help, that it suddenly dawned on her that the bit of face she'd seen-before covering up the guy's face like he was a makeshift ghost or something-was very familiar to her.

Once again, it seemed as though Flynn was bothering her, and once again, Rita found that she wanted to kill something.

"Hey, what's your problem?" the girl hissed, finding within herself just a bit of the yell she hadn't been able to find a moment prior. "I don't know what you and Estelle are planning, but you guys can just leave me alone. I don't need- I mean, don't you have to go gather up those animals, anyway?"

Surprisingly enough, Flynn didn't end up acting with the good grace that Rita knew of him. In fact, he didn't act sheepish or shy or repentant or anything like that, as he sized Rita up with eyes that weren't unlike Yuri's.

And then, for whatever reason, the knight let a strange sound escape his lips: a sound that reminded Rita of when she'd learned to whistle via a blade of grass. "Lady Rita, Her Majesty doesn't always tell me of her plans-or get my seal of approval on many of them, in fact-but I assure you that if Lady Estellise did plan for the two of us to meet here for whatever reason, she didn't tell me of it. I've called Lady Judith in-who was surprisingly nearby in the city-to come pick these creatures up on  _Ba'ul_ , and to see them to Brave Vesperia, where Karol will be happy to figure out where they belong.

"I have done my job and all that has been asked of me here. So know that now, when I ask you why you seem troubled, I'm doing it of my own volition and for no other reason than that, all right?"

Well, dang it. And first, Rita had been sure that Flynn actually wasn't going to give her his powdery, cover-up type answer. She should have known better, since it was Flynn and Flynn was nothing but polite, but now she was beyond irritated with him.

For one thing, it reminded Rita far too much of Estelle. And with that, it, unfortunately, reminded her of her stupid reasons for liking Estelle back then, and that... that was painful for a lot of reasons. A) Because Rita knew she'd been young, stupid and bratty about a lot of things back then. B) Because thinking of Estelle, and the rejected love she felt for her, hurt the mage even now. And also, Rita just  _hated_ answers like that, because it was always just royals lying to try and win you over, or to keep you in the dark about things, and it was...

Even worse in the mage's book when Flynn did it, because she had never fully trusted him for whatever reason, and he just seemed way too... perfect at times in her eyes.

Beyond that, she was much more on Yuri's side when it came to politics, and Rita knew for sure that if she'd ever been a knight, she also would have defected from it long ago... though probably in less of a rogue manner than Yuri had.

"Look," Rita said at last-massaging her temples as she felt a headache coming on: probably because some idiot popcorn vendor had nearly just crashed into her, which just made her even more stressed than she all ready was. "I don't like the idea of Estelle playing match maker with us, or whatever it is that she's doing, but I do have to admit that if nothing else... the two of us should try and work together to try and find an energy replacement for Blastia. So waddaya say we find an inn to stay at and discuss things there?"

There. That was a civil and somewhat warm thing to say, to get things relatively back to normal with her and Flynn. She hadn't even dropped kicked him or anything, and she was being kind  _with_  a terrible migraine wearing her out. As it happened, Rita thought that she probably should have been getting an award for that...

That and for not insulting Flynn's intelligence. While the mage very highly doubted that the knight's ideas would bring any sort of help to the Blastia predicament, she figured his determination and desire to cater to other people's needs would probably help with the efforts, at the very least...

If she didn't end up punching him in the face first, that was. As far as Rita was concerned, there was never any promise that she wouldn't beat someone to a pulp for their idiocy, but at least this was a start.

"I appreciate the offer, Lady Rita," Flynn replied awkwardly-itching his cheek uncertainly, as he spoke in the soft voice that always served to remind Rita that Flynn was maybe even younger than Yuri was. "But someone has to stay here and make sure Her highness returns to the palace safe and sound, and as of now that responsibility falls to me."

At that, Rita put her hands on her hips and blew a raspberry. And before she could find it in herself to monitor her words, she was all ready giving the would-be-boy scout a piece of her mind.

"Please, Flynn. Now that I think about it, whatever cover story Estelle and Yuri might have come up with is exactly that: a cover story. I wouldn't put it past Yuri to be here right now-to be with Estellise now that he's made his intentions known to her-and this whole thing might have been an elaborate ruse of theirs to get some alone time. I'm actually kinda banking on it now, actually," Rita said the last with a superior sort of air-feeling more than confident.

If she'd meant for her words to win over Flynn, however, they'd seemed to have had the opposite affect, the brunette girl noted. If anything, the sworn sword seemed even  _more_  gung-ho to march back into the coliseum to make sure his friend wasn't deflowering the princess, or some such thing.

Sighing irritably, Rita decided she'd have to take one for the team.

And thus, many of the locals then, were met with the image of the angry, famed mage of Aspio slapping Flynn upside the head (like she had Karol far too many times), and taking him back to her cave to do unspeakable things with him... Or so  _they_  thought, anyway.

...

It was only after Rita was flipping the funds for a shared room for herself and Flynn, that she began regretting her choice. Call her stingy, but if there was one thing that Rita was a stickler for, it was saving her gald. She might not have been buying Blastia with them anymore, but she still had many other avenues of science that kept her intrigued and buying things for!

And if she was being honest with herself, Rita wasn't' even entirely sure why she'd opted to bring Flynn with her like this at all; she'd never been much of a people person. And even though she was starting to overcome that fact just the slightest bit, she still would have preferred to be alone... right?

Okay, so deep down she knew that she was lying to herself (even moreso in that she'd become aware of her own feelings about things during her adventure), but that didn't mean the old her-that made the good point about how Yuri had gotten her thrown out of a hotel before, and who knew if Flynn could end up doing the same thing-had a good point.

And anyway... Rita had no idea what she was going to say to her friend when he woke up. Knowing him, he might stick her in jail for interfering in an important investigation of the Council's... or something.

Fortunately, though, Rita figured that Flynn knew well enough that she had done crazy things to sate her curiosity before, but she found she didn't want him to look at her like a mad scientist or something.

She wanted him... to look at her the way Estelle never had, it suddenly dawned on Rita: something that instantly had her internally cursing herself and Estelle, for getting her into this situation in the first place, and for Estelle's being right. And if that wasn't enough incentive for Rita to want to throw the guy out into the cold and never look at him again, she didn't know what was.

She didn't do that, though. One, because as much as Rita sometimes tried to fight it, she  _did_  have a conscience. But most of all, she knew she'd definitely get caught doing that and thus lose her bed for the night that way, and Rita most  _certainly_  wasn't going to let that happen.

So in picking the lesser of the two... err- _three_ -evils, the girl decided to park it on the cold, red carpeted floor of the motel and to eat a few snacks, as she waited for Flynn to come to on the bed. In the end, she didn't have to wait long.

Jerking up so fast that she was surprised he didn't get whiplash from the movement, Flynn got to his feet, surveyed his surroundings, said a few unintelligible words, and finally rested his eyes on Rita, who which he scowled at. No doubt his memories of what had just happened had returned to him hastily. And was that a bruise that was forming on the blond's forehead that she was seeing? Rita giggled at the thought.

Waving to him far too innocently, with a smile on her face, Rita decided to state her case in the best way she knew how. "Ooh, hey, sorry about everything there, Flynn... And for kidnapping you, of course, buuuuut Estelle deserves to be with Yuri intimately. End of story. After having been controlled before, and having been chaperoned her entire life, my friend deserves to feel in control during one of the best things a human can experience, so you're staying here and leaving them be."

Aaaaaand the way that Flynn blushed so red there (so that he looked like a tomato) might have been cute or funny to Rita, if she didn't feel so humiliated about everything herself. What the  _hell_ had that been?!

Everything that she'd said had been absolutely true, of course-though Rita hadn't known how strongly she'd felt that way, despite still feeling a bit of jealousness towards Yuri, until the words had poured out of her mouth-but she still felt awkward saying them to Estelle's overly zealous babysitter.

Not only that, but Rita herself felt  _really_  awkward talking about consummating relationships, since she was even younger than Estelle was, and had never had any sort of relationship her entire life!

The fact that she'd kidnapped Flynn into a hotel with her also wasn't helping matters. Damn, her rashness, Rita thought with gritted teeth-resisting the urge to punch the wall before her.

Thankfully, for both of their sakes, Flynn recovered his composure quickly. Coughing slightly to change the subject-but only after reaching down to help Rita to her feet, so that she might join him in standing-Flynn said with a rather sort of impish grin on his face, "Be that as it may, Miss Rita, I get the sense it was for more than just allying your friend Lady Estellise that you brought me here, am I correct?

"Yuri and the princess herself have spoken often of your need for answers-and even beyond that, I've seen curiosity come to alight in you myself-but I never knew the magnitude in which your love for science drove you. I feel you and I might be the same that way in our duties."

 _Except that's really not why I did this_ , Rita thought red-faced: feeling much worse than she ever had on that stupid ghost ship, when she'd been trying to pretend that she wasn't scared by the idea of phantoms!

Ugh. Hiding ones feelings of unworthiness or awkwardness was the worse thing ever! If only there was something she could invent or discover to make such feelings completely cease!

"Um..." started Rita, as she looked about the dimly lit room she was in, with mixed feelings and a new sort of irritation. Its hideousness wasn't helping her to keep her focus. For instance, why did the bed look as though it was bathed in a mysterious pink light at the foot of it? It almost seemed to speak of the spirits that Rita hated so much.

And so, desperate to change the subject to anything but the avenue her mind had just taken her on (and she was sad to admit that she'd just more or less tuned out everything that Flynn had been saying), Rita ended up digging out the hideous costume she hated so much-to use it to cover up the weird and eerie light she even moreso hated on the bed-and then turned to Flynn with a somewhat sheepish look on her face.

"Okay, don't get me wrong here, Mister. I don't believe in the knight-in-shining-armor crap, and you definitely don't fit the bill for someone wanting to be swept off their feet: not even close! So don't take it the wrong way and ruin our friendship when I say... I just want you to help me figure out what was going on with the rabbits, animals' souls, and Estelle's random plan."

Apparently what she'd just said hadn't been what Flynn was expecting, Rita noted with narrowed, jade colored eyes.

Rather, as his Flynn's face turned to an expression that was quite crestfallen, Rita suspected that maybe he'd been thinking she'd been about to tell him she had feelings for him-or, at the very least, could in the near future.

For a moment, Rita thought about trying to lighten his spirits, by telling him what she'd just realized: that maybe it  _would_  be possible in the future, but mostly… she was just looking for a way to justify kidnapping him. And what better thing for that, than to reinforce the scientific idea she'd hinted at before?

"Oh, ahh, yes. Forgive me, my lady. I thought that you were implying that- Well, anyway, it doesn't matter. And I'm delighted to hear that you at least took me in for the matter at hand, and not another far-off and fantastical whim of yours. Now, we should talk about the First Strike and what I know of it?"

Right. The First Strike, where animals had gone crazy through Blastia, and had turned into monsters, terrorizing town's people.

As it was, Rita had only heard shades of that story; she supposed that a lot of it was probably some fancy-shmancy government cover-up that the knight before her probably knew more than his fair share about.

And truth be told, Rita was more than a bit tempted to ask Flynn for some of the details that she herself didn't know about or hadn't experienced during that time (she  _was_  still a curious mage, after all), but something ended up stopping her.

Possibly it was because of the headache that she felt coming on again-or the fact she suspected that everything she'd thought connected before, about the animals and stuff, really wasn't at all, and Estelle probably was just pressing their buttons-but whatever the reason, Rita Mordio found that she didn't want to talk about the empire, smarty pants stuff, or anything that they had been so far at all.

Instead, she just really wanted to rest-and to shoo Flynn out of this room she'd bought for them-but in knowing that she'd paid an arm and a leg to allow for the blond to stay with her in the place, she thought she might as well make it worth while. "So, Flynn... I gotta say; I usually don't spare this kinda talk for anyone but Brave Vesperia, as frankly, I still don't really trust you, but... did you ever carry one of your favorite books around like I do?"

Well, that had definitely gotten a reaction out of the swordsman, Rita noted sourly. His eyes widened fractionally, and he even seemed to stagger forward the slightest bit-his teeth clacking and his hair blowing somewhat as he did so.

If she'd had the chance to do it over, Rita didn't know if she ever would have asked the guy such a thing again; after all, even Flynn's usual kindness probably wasn't enough for him to mask his horror at her "terrible fashion sense". And no doubt he was probably about to read her the riot act for it, and to be much harsher to her than she ever had been to Karol (even back at the beginning, Rita knew).

So lo and behold her surprise, when Flynn ended up stammering rather quickly and randomly, "I was always a sucker for 'Hanric and His Misadventures', and would often lug it around."

Despite herself, Rita found that she had to whistle at that. There was a part of her that felt surprised that Flynn had been a bookworm like her-and that he liked such silly fiction, when she'd thought he was more of a straight-laced type-but... she did enjoy the idea of Flynn strapping a tome to a weapon's holster, like she herself did, and carrying it around that way as a child.

Rita laughed at that mental image-and even moreso when she imagined how a young Yuri might have reacted to it.

"You know..." Rita said absently and kindly-without written approval from the usual persona that she displayed. "That's gotta be the most truthful and personal statement that I've ever heard from you..."

And now... now Rita was left feeling awkward, pressing her index fingers together, as she began blushing scarlet and thinking about going outside to the garden to escape the weird feeling she now found herself in.

Idly, the mage had to wonder if this was how Yuri and Estelle had felt, when Estelle had gotten better at high-fives and whatnot, and it had left their encounters and touches with each other being more meaningful and beautiful.

Though at least with Yuri and Estelle, they'd had an entire journey to get cozy feelings for each other, Rita reminded herself. Whereas whatever she was now irrationally feeling for Flynn... was stupid, ridiculous, and probably even unethical!

In fact, Rita was so enraged with herself, that she wanted to snort and tell Flynn how awful he was and unworthy of her love, and yet...

And yet Rita found she could do no such thing, so instead she quickly walked through the clear, blue double doors that led to the outside garden, and she tried to get her act together, which... was easier said than done.

For one thing, it was so cold and rainy out, that Rita couldn't help but cross her arms over her chest and swear. As much as she'd hated the desert, she knew that she hated the cold even more.

The garden she was in was truly picturesque-with lovely, blue-ish green plants atop terraces, mother of pearl diamonds sprinkled here and there, and the loveliest scent of mint that Rita had ever come across-though small, and pretty much just a square lot: one that easily allowed her to still see Flynn's hurt face gazing at her through the window.

Ugh. And here she'd thought that going outside would at least allow her to put some distance between them and make them both feel a bit better, but... It seemed as though the people who owned this estate had spent too much of their earnings on things such as fountains, pebbled paths, and those blasted pear ribbons that Rita saw, rather than acres.

Also... Rita didn't like the vine-y underbrush that she found herself walking on. Any minute now, and she thought some stupid plant would curl its stem around her-like a lover might caress their soul mate-and pull her into the mouth of a giant Venus Fly Trap or something, which was... downright terrifying, even  _with_  the horrifying monsters she'd faced in the past.

And maybe it was for that reason that when Flynn came rushing out to her side, Rita didn't object in the slightest. Not that she'd ever tell him that, though.

When Flynn ended up coming abreast to Rita-and stopping right in front of her, so that emerald eyes could look into aquamarine ones-she thought she must have been on some sort of drama play. It  _would_  be just that moment that rain would start pouring down all around them, to plaster Flynn's hair to his face and make him look far too handsome.

Rita's traitorous heart began thump thumping much too fast to be healthy (and if it was trying to churn in time with Flynn's, she was going to kill it), as she tried to reason that only in musicals did heroines love their boyfriends in the rain.

Flynn, who wasn't even her boyfriend, looked like a half-drowned rat, she tried to remind herself. A half-drowned rat in need of a hair dry.

And yet... when Rita felt him draping a black jacket he must have found from who knew where over her shoulders, she found herself feeling instantly giddy and wanting to do a sort of happy dance.

Ebony... it was a color that Rita liked a lot herself, because no one tried to mask their flaws and act like they were perfect in black.

And Flynn... who she had always thought was putting on a charade, or was torn about the person he wanted to be, putting such a coat of his on top of her, made Rita trust him just a little more. Maybe. "They're going to charge you more here, if you get sick and ask for room service to bring you medicine, I'm afraid."

Oddly enough, in that moment-as Flynn looked at Rita like he was worried his words could be misconstrued as cruel, or that Rita might lash out at him-that Rita found it was the perfect instance (and perhaps even the only one), that she should throw caution to the wind for the first time in her life by kissing Flynn, and so she did.

The kiss wasn't perfect or ground breaking by any means, either. Rita still didn't know Flynn or vice versa, and so she knew that this had nothing to do with love, as much as it had to do with possibilities:

The possibility that maybe they could be something together, the possibility that maybe they had stuff in common and could get to know each other in the future, but most of all-to Rita, anyway: it was the promise that she was letting her heart expand a little bit more everyday, and that she was seeing Flynn for who he really was-not the person she'd liked at first because he'd reminded her of Estelle, before she'd gotten so conflicted and confused about Flynn himself.

And not even the Flynn who was perfect and nice that Rita liked, but instead, the boy who was a little broken like she was, maybe: the boy who had put up with Yuri most of his life, and was now beating himself up for being more concerned about Rita's income rather than her getting a cold-even though even that was him being an idiot and sweet at the same time: a trait about people that Rita had come to like, and that she knew she herself even was.

Pulling away from Flynn finally, and stopping from where she'd been standing on her tiptoes, Rita kept her hands around the blushing boy for just a moment, before she smacked her lips together and then said, "Will you stop looking at me like you just drowned my dog for your comment, or something, and just be the naturally nice you, Flynn? I mean, jeez:  _appreciate_  you trying to save my wallet-you don't have to be so freakin' down on yourself about it."

 _Especially since you being so concerned about me_ - _and us being out in the rain like this-is reminding me of a story about a dog saving a family during the flood, so isn't that enough of you being a savior for ya?,_  Rita thought but didn't say aloud, as she put an index finger under Flynn's chin and forced him to continue looking at her-feeling a new and thrilling confidence taking root inside of her, as all her worries and concerns rose to the surface of her mind like water, before then drifting away.

And if Flynn had any issue with Rita somewhat acting like the kiss hadn't happened-despite somewhat cuddling with him in that same moment-he didn't show it.

Instead, he just meaningfully pressed his forehead against hers for a moment, calmed his breathing, and began stepping away after having breathed her in.

The look he wore on his face, however, as he began turning away from her, had Rita beaming.

And though they didn't actually hold hands, they ended up walking back to the inn, so that their hands did almost brush, as they went back.

But in the end, neither of them cared, because bitter sweetness and uncertainty like this made up the constant of their beautiful world, and bitter sweetness was a beautiful something they'd found to love in each other. Maybe.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't kill me, but I actually haven't finished this game yet. -dodges bullets- I'm like half-way done with it, though, I think. And I do know some of the spoilers, and have seen "The First Strike", so hopefully I knew enough to do the game justice here. And hopefully I didn't get something colossally wrong, but if I did... Well, now you know why.
> 
> But anyway, I just had to write this. Rita is my favorite character, you see, and I just love her to pieces! For that reason, I really couldn't wait any longer to write something for her. (Here's hoping I wrote her well, though; Rita can be a tough nut to crack.)
> 
> And as for the Flynn aspect… Well, when I was looking up the limited Rita stuff on YouTube, I came across an amv-esque thing with this pairing, and it got me curious about them. I don't really know if I ship this at all (as part of me doesn't like Flynn, and I think there's definitely more hints in the game to any ship than this), but I thought I'd try it out and see where it went.
> 
> Mainly, though, this is just me testing the waters for a friendship between the two, and trying to nail these characters and world some in my writing, so that I can write better Vesperia stuff in the future.
> 
> That's not to say that Iwon'tbecome a true shipper of these two, and do more for them in the future, though. I really do kinda want to write more Flynnita (is that what we're calling this?) in the future, actually, but we'll see if I do or not.
> 
> Oh, and this story is obviously going with the idea that Rita's Bi…
> 
> Uhh, what else to say about this story? "Rising Book 1: Resistance" and Percy Jackson references ftw? (And major kudos to anyone who caught either of those… especially the "Rising" one, since many people don't know that series by Laura Josephsen even though it's AMAZING.)
> 
> Also, sorry if any of this fic is weird. I had to edit a lot out of here, and I might have even (accidentally) cut out sections I might have needed for this all to make sense or be better. Sorry, if I did, but since my dad's basically dying of cancer right now… I don't have time to go over this with a fine-toothed comb, like I usually try to do for my stories.
> 
> The ending is also a bit rushed to me, but whatever, I guess. Frankly, I'm actually even surprised I found the time to write this and get it all done, since I've been spending all my time with my dad lately (who has no Internet, btw). 0_0
> 
> …I feel like there was something else I meant to say, but now I forget what. I'll update this later, if I think of anything.
> 
> Welp, review, if you feel so inclined, guys. Happy reading and thanks for everything!
> 
> -Shanna


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